Chap. 15
From Many, One
Since they had first met Fuego, Aang, Katara, and Sokka had wondered why he had disguised his face so heavily. It had been one thing when he had been in hiding as a member of the Fire Nation, when he had unquestionably felt it necessary to hide his identity. But afterwards, when he had been alone with them, he still had not removed the wrappings. When he had eaten, he had pulled them down slightly but that was all. Privately, the three of them had devised their own theories about the red man, most of them revolving around severe disfigurement. They'd changed their minds briefly when they saw that his brother Knights had adopted Fuego's style. After all, they couldn't all be deformed then. But as Oscuridad revealed his face, the three children immediately shot back to their original theory, which had proved closer to the truth then they'd realized.
Underneath the black man's wrappings, lay a face that was as black as the cloth surrounding it. But this was not a coloring of the skin; the black came from the fur that covered the face. A wide, open nose stood above a mouth from which two fangs jutted out from top and slightly jutting bottom. Two ears, pointed and almost fox-like sprouted from the top of the head. As they stared in shock, Oscuridad gave a grim smile, though his red eyes looked on in glee at the confusion he was causing. For these people no longer saw the man in black; they saw his true form, that of man and bat.
One by one, the other Knights began to remove their wrappings, and show themselves to the humans. Agua revealed an angular face, covered in orange fur that came to a point at either side of his face. Two pointed ears sprouted from his crown, and his green, slit pupils looked on from the cat face they were set in. Opening his mouth ever so slightly in a similar grin, Agua hissed through his long front fangs.
Tierra's face was covered in brown fur and stretched outwards culminating in the muzzle of his dog face. His eyes flashed behind it as he looked over the soldiers. As they watched, his upper lip curled in the same devious smile revealing a row of sharp teeth as he growled.
No fur or hair covered Fuego's face though. But it was marked nonetheless. The red man's black, stony face was traced with lines of red that crisscrossed and pulsed. His eyes were open holes that glowed the same color as the lines that ran through them. He too gave a smile, which showed the red spewing forth from his mouth as well.
Aire's unmasking revealed a pair of feathery eyebrows, over a squat face that stretched forth into a beak. The falcon's eyes gleamed with youth and excitement as his feather covered face looked out onto the Fire Nation soldiers. His beak curbed into a smile as he looked on.
When Bosque removed his wrappings, there were some slight chuckles from the soldiers, as the furry, seemingly wide-eyed face of a squirrel made it's appearance. But Bosque only smiled over his slightly oversized teeth, and reaching behind him, drew his axe. Whirling it over it over his head, he suddenly drove it into the ground and gave them a look that said, "Laugh all you want. But I'll remember."
Trueno's face stretched outward, in an almost horse-like shape. But his steely eyes and curling horns made the soldiers cautious. For rams are notoriously hard fighters when they are angered, and a ram with the power of thunder is something to truly fear.
Despite that, it was Hierro's revelation that everyone remembered the most vividly. The gray man pulled his wrappings over and off, revealing a pair of strange, bulbous eyes. But as he kept pulling back, a second pair became visible, and then another, until finally, eight pairs of eyes were revealed. It didn't end there, as Hierro removed the lower part of his wrappings and a pair of twitching mandibles was visible in place of a mouth.
As everyone stared in disgusted horror, something suddenly began to rustle in the folds of Hierro's cape. Suddenly a second pair of arms drew up out of the cape, followed by a third, the right of which carried a large mace that the hands passed up to the right of the top pair. As the spider looked out, its mandibles began to twist in an approximation of the smile on the face of its companions.
Luz thankfully, was fair less jarring. She pulled off her wrappings to reveal a face that was covered by mid-length red hair. But with a flip of her head, Luz moved her hair back to reveal a lupine face, with a short muzzle covered in red and white fur and dark green eyes. She too grinned at the Fire Nation as they looked on at this strange fox woman.
Finally, Desierto pulled away his wrappings and showed a face similar to Tierra, but longer and covered in gray fur. As the troops saw him give his own smile, they saw something in it that made them step back. They'd seen the look on each of the Knight's faces, but seeing in the face of a wolf, was more terrifying, for a wolf shows no mercy in the hunt.
As all the Knights stood, unmasked and unhidden, the reactions were mixed from awe and wonder to disgust. But Oscuridad simply shook his head and said, "Expecting something different I take it?"
Those words hung n the air for less then a second before Sokka, being Sokka, blurted out, "The chosen of the gods are animals? What the heck is that? This has got to be why we stopped believing in these things."
Katara gasped at that, wondering what her brother could be thinking angering beings sent from the gods. But Agua stepped up front and said, "To be fair Sokka, we're not totally animalistic. Part of us is human."
"What part is that? And how do you know my name?" Sokka asked looking at the cat-man in confusion.
"The part that lets me talk to you. And I know because Fuego told us." Agua replied.
"You see," Tierra said, as he came up to the plate, "our Masters wanted to use humans, but you have that wonderful tendency of getting a little power and becoming obsessed with getting more. Sound familiar Zhao?" he yelled over at the Admiral.
"But animals don't have that problem." Aire continued, picking up effortlessly. "They don't care about power or status. They just care about where they are, and how to protect it."
"Of course, they don't have morals or values." Bosque added. "So the Masters took the best of both; the morality and intelligence of a human, with the near guileless and connected-to-nature mentality of an animal. Except for Fuego here; it seems there wasn't an animal that could control Fire. So Darya, the Architect of Flame, gave life to the magma and formed it into the shape of a man. Regardless, the arrangement's worked quite well for us."
"We'd love to tell you more, but I know we both have bigger concerns." Oscuridad said, as he looked over at Zhao. Drawing his sword, the bat pointed it at Zhao and said, "You have two options. You can leave now, go home, and tell the Fire Lord that we're back and the Avatar is out of his reach. Or you can stay, get the living crap beaten out of you, and then do option one. What do you think?"
It took less then a second for Zhao to answer. For in the time it had taken for the Knights to unmask, most of the Fire Nation troops had dug themselves out of the sand, and those that were left were almost out. Seeing that, Zhao gave his answer; "Attack!"
The Knights prepared to attack, but then Fuego yelled, "Duck and cover!" Without even bothering to look to see what was going on, the Knights suddenly leapt to the sides, just as the troops behind them let loose with fireblasts. As they slid on the ground and came to a halt, they suddenly realized what had happened.
"I thought you had them!" Bosque yelled at Desierto as the two scrambled to their feet.
"Sorry, I lost focus." The wolf answered.
"It doesn't matter, guys." Oscuridad yelled from the other side. Turning to face the troops, he raised his sword high and called out, "Elemental Knights, Viva la Raza!"
"Viva le!" the others replied, as they charged the small army of Firebenders as Zhao, Aang, and the others watched on.
"Come on guys, we have to help!" Aang said, as he charged into the fray. Katara nodded and followed
"What, the Elemental Knights can't defeat them on their own?" Sokka muttered, as he pulled out his club and ran into the battle. "Viva…. What they said!" the young Water-Tribesman cried out as he began to attack.
"Perhaps we should help them?" Iroh suggested, as he and Zuko watched the battle.
The boy-prince was quiet a moment, weighing his options. He now had a chance to capture the Avatar, but if these Knights were sent to protect him, what chance did Zuko have? But as he watched the battle and saw Zhao standing on the sides, waiting for the easy attack like the coward he was, Zuko knew what he had to do.
"Keep the soldiers away from the Avatar. I will not let Zhao capture him and I'll make sure he doesn't say anything to the Fire Lord. But we will not letthe Avatar go free." Zuko said.
"Very well." Said Iroh, though he doubted any kidnapping attempt would succeed at the moment. Still when Zuko charged into the fray, Iroh followed.
As for the battle itself, everyone involved soon realized that the Knights truly believed the words that Fuego had spoken; that true power was not evident in one element alone, but in many working together. The Knight's ability then, came not from fighting alone, but in fighting together……
Bosque shot out two vines from his hands and wrapped them around two soldiers. Before they could burn them away, the squirrel had thrown them against the trunk of a nearby tree. Moving over to them quickly, Bosque raised up his hands and caused the bark of the tree to spread over the soldiers like a fungus, covering and trapping them in seconds.
"Don't worry boys, this won't last long." He said, as he suddenly dropped to his hands and knees in front of them. The soldiers gave quizzical looks for a moment but then realized what was going on when they saw something speeding towards them. Frantically they tried to burn away the bark, but in vain. With the air boosting his speed, Aire was upon them in seconds. Using Bosque as a springboard, the falcon leapt into the air and somersaulted into the troops, ramming them so hard the tree actually uprooted and fell over.
"Still got it." The man in green said, as he moved over and helped Aire to his feet.
"Damn right." Aire replied, as he looked over at the unconscious troops, now laying in a plethora of splinters. "Now let's get back to work."
"Come on, she's just a little girl." The soldier sneered as he and his comrade moved in on Katara.
"I beg to differ." The young Waterbender replied as she opened her water-holder. Katara whipped out the water in her holder with amazing speed, knocking down the troops left and right.
But unfortunately, one cannot see behind oneself in battle, and there were many troops. As Katara continued to battle, she suddenly felt a hand grasp her shoulder. Whipping her head around, she suddenly looked into the face of an angry Fire Nations soldier.
"Time to burn little girl." The soldier snapped, as he ignited his free hand. But before he could even come close to her, a huge blast of water shot into him from the side and knocked him off. Katara turned to see Agua ending a Waterbending pose.
"Thought you could use a hand." The cat said as he moved over to her.
"I'm not opposed to it." Katara replied.
"Good, 'cause I think we both need one now." Agua said, as he turned to the soldiers Katara had attacked, who were now rising to their feet.
"Do you know how to get water from the air yet?" Agua asked quickly.
"No, not yet." Katara answered.
"Good thing I do. When I give the word, we slam it into them ok?"
Katara nodded her approval, and Agau quickly got to work. Holding out his
hand, the cat looked at the air behind them, as it began to change to a deep, fluid blue. Within seconds, a huge field of water hung suspended in the air.
"Now!" Fuego replied, as the soldiers started to advance. Reaching back, the two Waterbenders grabbed control of the water and shot it forward, blasting the soldiers. Within seconds they were back on the ground, sputtering and trying to rise.
"That went well." Agua said as he looked over their handiwork.
"Yeah, but I don't think they're staying down." Katara said, as she saw a couple of soldiers getting up and moving in on them.
"Don't worry, we did our part." Agua replied.
As he said that, two shapes suddenly leapt in front of them. It took Katara a second to recognize them, but the six arms and horns gave them away pretty quickly. Moving with uncanny speed, Hierro shot out chains from each of his six hands. As they neared the soldiers, the chains suddenly grew manacles at the end and clamped onto the soldiers legs. Once each chain was in place, Hierro broke the chains off from his hands. Holding them in place, the spider turned and handed the chains to Trueno.
Grasping all the chains in two hands, the ram closed his eyes and began to concentrate. As he did so, Katara felt a charge creep through the air. A second later, she realized what it meant. Trueno's eyes popped open, and lightening shot down from his hands, through the chains, and into the Fire Nation soldiers, who screamed in pain, and fell to the ground, unconscious and smoking a second later.
Turning around, the ram looked at Katara and said, "Water and metal conduct electricity quite well. Thanks for your help."
"No problem." Katara answered, with a touch of awe in her voice.
But while the Knights and Avatar gang were able to work together, not everyone on their side was able to do so. Zuko was simply fighting through the lines, fighting whoever and whatever came in his path. He would take down a soldier, then see Aang or one of his friends and shoot a fireblast at them. Iroh was thankfully restricting himself to soldiers but he kept looking over at Zuko, wondering when the boy would make a mistake. But he wasn't the only one.
I've got to reason with him. Fuego thought, as he took down another soldier. It's pointless for us to fight each other when we have a common enemy. But what do I say to get through to him?
But Fuego got his chance a moment later, as Zhao finally entered the battle. Seeing Zuko become distracted by a random soldier, Zhao suddenly let loose with a fireblast. Zuko saw it and managed to duck, but not in time, and it struck him hard. Zuko went skidding on the ground, finally coming to a halt after three feet. Zhao immediately leapt in battle, Fuego saw his chance. Whipping around, the red man called out, "Tierra! Luz! Over here!"
Slowly, Zuko pulled himself up, just in time to see the feet of Admiral Zhao reach him. Looking down at the young prince, Zhao sneered, "If I can't have the Avatar today, at least I can get rid of you."
Raising up his hand, Zhao prepared to strike down Zuko, but before he could, Zhao grabbed his arm and threw him down.
"You dare try to kill the prince of the Fire Nation, Zhao!" Iroh cried out, as the Admiral got back up.
"No, now I'm trying to kill a pair of traitors!" Zhao cried, as he let loose with a huge fireburst. Iroh moved to intercept it, but suddenly darkness closed in on them…
"Uncle, what is this?" Zuko asked, as he rose to his feet in the pitch-blackness.
"I'm not sure Zuko." Iroh replied. "But I think I have an idea. Wherever we are smells like dirt."
"Sorry about that." Said a voice from behind. As a light suddenly burst over the space, Zuko and Iroh saw Fuego, Tierra, and Luz, holding the illuminating light in her hand like a lamp standing in front of them.
"You! What did you do to us?" Zuko cried out, his anger temporarily banishing his earlier reverence of the Knights.
"Saving you from Admiral Happy-Pants out there?" said Tierra, gesturing to the earthy dome surrounding them.
"What is it you want?" Zuko snapped, not even caring to offer thanks.
"We want your help." Fuego said simply. "There's no point in you fighting everyone here when we have a common enemy."
"What exactly did you have in mind?" Iroh asked, before Zuko could say anything.
"We fight together, get Zhao out of here, and then go back to the chase. Sound good to you?" Tierra asked.
"Of course not!" Zuko yelled. "If I go after Zhao and halt an attempt to capture the Avatar with you, I'll never be able to return."
"Only if he remembers." Luz said. "Zuko, we can cloud Zhao's memory, so that he doesn't even remember today. And we can do the same to everyone here. But we'd rather leave you out of it."
"And why is that?"
"Because everything that Fuego said about you on the boat is true Zuko. You have potential, ability, and wisdom that few in the Fire Nation have. And I know, because I can see it. I see the good in people, Zuko. And I see more in you then I see in Zhao or most of the troops out there. Would it be so bad to show it?"
At that, Zuko was quiet. He knew that according to legend, the Knight of Light had the power to see the great qualities in a person's heart. And if she said that everything that Fuego had seen in him was truly there….
"Uncle, what do you think?" he asked suddenly.
"I think you could have no greater honor then to battle with the chosen of the gods." Iroh replied. "And besides, Zhao is a jackass."
Nodding, Zuko turned to the Knights and gave his reply